


ethereal

by merrihael



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: ( i guess ), Aged-Up Characters, College AU, Comfort, Crushes, Drabble, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Bokuto Day 2018, M/M, Pining, owls in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 20:22:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16047884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrihael/pseuds/merrihael
Summary: Akaashi’s knees popped loudly as he crouched down to get a better shot, his trusty camera in hand. There had been a selection of themes available for the project, and Akaashi’s choice had landed him here — at the mostly deserted Arts building of his college with his best friend, in the wee hours of the morning. The shutter click was a satisfying sound that resonated with Akaashi’s soul. He checked the preview on the back of his camera, and snapped a couple more, just to be safe. His phone, perched on a stool and playing some soft indie to set the mood, displayed 5:13AM.





	ethereal

Akaashi’s knees popped loudly as he crouched down to get a better shot, his trusty camera in hand. There had been a selection of themes available for the project, and Akaashi’s choice had landed him here — at the mostly deserted Arts building of his college with his best friend, in the wee hours of the morning. 

 

The shutter click was a satisfying sound that resonated with Akaashi’s soul. He checked the preview on the back of his camera, and snapped a couple more, just to be safe. His phone, perched on a stool and playing some soft indie to set the mood, displayed 5:13AM.

 

‘Hey, ‘Kaashi,’ Bokuto called, stretching out the middle syllable of Akaashi’s name. 

 

‘Yes, Bokuto?’ Akaashi asked, not looking up from his camera. The photos came out crystal clear, just like he’d hoped, and the light of the rising sun made them look almost ethereal. Maybe getting up this early was worth it, after all.

 

‘Why did you choose me to model for you?’ There was a hint of something else in Bokuto’s voice, something that made Akaashi look up from the screen. Bokuto’s shoulders had drooped a little bit, and he was worrying at his bottom lip, but his face didn’t betray much more than that.

 

‘What do you mean?’ 

 

‘You could’ve asked  _ anyone _ ,’ Bokuto explained, the same unfamiliar note woven into his voice. ‘You’re the best photographer in your year, everyone would’ve killed to model for you.’ Akaashi couldn’t help but flush a little at the praise. ‘You’re friends with Oikawa, right? He’s an actual model  _ and _ he’s attractive.’ 

 

Akaashi raised an eyebrow at him, not fully understanding what he was getting at. It was true, Oikawa was his friend, a part-time model, was unfairly attractive  _ and _ would’ve fit Akaashi’s year-long theme of sports, which he’d interwoven into his assignments. Bokuto sighed, and his shoulders drooped even further as he curled in on himself, abandoning the pose and pulling his bare knee up to his chest. 

 

‘I’m  _ me _ ,’ he said.

 

‘You’re better looking than Oikawa,’ Akaashi joked, hoping it’d lift Bokuto’s mood.

 

Bokuto just gave a noncommittal grunt, and kept his knee to his chest. 

 

Concerned, Akaashi set his camera aside and got to his feet, walking over to him where he sat in the middle of a pale blue set. It was a strange image — the flowers in Bokuto’s hair contrasting his gloomy face and the metaphorical rainy cloud over his head. Akaashi kneeled down next to him, and gently tucked a flower back into place where it’d begun to slip out, threatening to fall. A white rose.

 

‘Bokuto,’ Akaashi said, quietly. He resisted the urge to pepper Bokuto’s face with kisses until a smile returned to his face. He couldn’t do that, no matter how much he wanted to.

 

‘Akaashi,’ Bokuto mumbled back, looking at him with miserable eyes. Akaashi hated seeing him like that — Bokuto had one of those personalities that deserved nothing but happiness. 

 

Akaashi reached out, a little hesitant at first, then more surely. He cupped Bokuto’s face with his hands, giving his cheeks a little squeeze, and brought their foreheads together. He saw Bokuto’s eyes flutter closed, his long eyelashes fanning over his cheeks. The urge to kiss him welled up again in Akaashi’s chest, but he resisted it, and instead began to speak.

 

Sometimes, Bokuto’s moods could be lifted with a single joke, a single reassurance. But when that didn’t work, Akaashi knew it was a bigger problem. Today was one of those days. So Akaashi talked and talked, wanting to kick himself all the while: he’d known Bokuto a long time, since high school, and was somewhat proud he knew most of his moods and habits. But he’d been busy with college, with assignments, with new friends and outings, and he’d completely missed the sharp drop in Bokuto’s personal confidence. Bokuto had hid it well, behind smiles and laughs, but now that it was painfully obvious, Akaashi wanted to kick himself.

 

He couldn’t fix it with just one pep talk. But he considered the way Bokuto’s shoulders relaxed and the way a soft smile crept onto his face a victory, at least for today. He’d be more observant now, be more mindful of bringing his friend’s confidence up. He couldn’t do much else.

 

‘Okay,’ Bokuto eventually said, taking a deep breath. Akaashi straightened up, his hands still cupping Bokuto’s cheeks for some reason. Self-conscious, he dropped his hands and tucked them into the pockets of his sweatshirt. Bokuto didn’t notice, and gave him a grin. ‘Let’s finish this project of yours.’

 

Akaashi wasn’t very good at compliments — taking them and giving them — but this time, he almost outdid himself. He let every thought he had spill to his lips and to Bokuto in a strange surge of courage — the need to uplift his best friend and gigantic crush was stronger than his fear of slipping, his own embarrassment. And Bokuto really did look unfairly good with flowers in his hair, the morning sun casting a warm glow on his skin.  _ Ethereal _ — that was a good word.

 

As Bokuto snacked on a protein bar, his bare shoulders covered with a fluffy blanket they’d stolen off one of the other sets, Akaashi sat cross-legged on the floor, flicking through the previews. He felt his ears grow warmer and warmer the farther he clicked, until he got to a particularly good photo and had to put his camera down and bury his face in his hands.  _ Holy shit _ .

 

Akaashi had taken a funny pose to get the perfect shot, and Bokuto had laughed at him, all crinkly-eyed and dimply. The shutter had caught him mid laugh, and was the most heart-stopping thing Akaashi had ever seen. It was beautiful, all of it — from his smile, to the twinkle in his eyes, to the way the morning light and his eyes contrasted with the cool colors of the flowers and the background, to the way his hair was just that little bit messy… Akaashi thought he’d just struck gold, in more ways than one. He picked up his camera.

 

‘That one’s nice,’ Bokuto said, suddenly appearing over Akaashi’s shoulder, making him jump. He was leaning over him, the blanket draped over his shoulders like a cape, brushing the back of Akaashi’s arms.

 

‘Yeah,’ Akaashi said, not looking up at him. He knew his face was red. He clicked to the next photo.

 

‘Do you think I’m attractive, Akaashi?’ The question caught him off guard and he froze, clutching onto his camera for real life. He cleared his throat, trying to calm the erratic beating of his heart — it was just a question, nothing will come of it anyway…

 

‘Yes,’ he admitted, and began to flick through the photos as if it was no big deal. As if he hadn’t just betrayed one of his best-kept secrets (the two others being his gigantic crush on Bokuto and the time he blamed a broken window on his brother). ‘I think you’re attractive.’

 

‘Huh,’ there was a happy note in Bokuto’s hum. ‘I think you’re attractive too, Akaashi.’

 

And that was the end of that.

 

——

 

Akaashi was almost too stressed to go over to his display and see the grade he got. As a final examination, the students had to display their work in a gallery for the public — and an examiner — to admire, and, in the case of the examiner herself, to grade. He’d spent all of three weeks planning the display and choosing his photos, then two days setting it up, and he  _ still _ felt underprepared. One of the other students had a  _ neon light _ display on theirs: how could he compete with  _ that _ ?

 

Eventually, after putting it off for all of two hours, Akaashi let Bokuto — who’d come along for emotional support — to drag him back into the gallery and lead him towards his exhibit. Bokuto knew the way better than Akaashi did, and they were hailed by  _ Hello! _ s from all sides — the volleyball team’s ace was popular and well-liked in the college. Akaashi was obliged to dress up for the event, and Bokuto had surprised him by showing up in slacks and a nice, gray button up.

 

When they came to Akaashi’s exhibit, he was too nervous to look at the grade card, so he pretended to be very interested in his own photography. His entire body was shaking with nerves. The exhibit was mostly soft blues and whites, with hints of warmer colors. The 5AM photoshoot with Bokuto took centre stage, as it was Akaashi’s proudest work. The other photographs didn’t have people in them, except a few of Oikawa and Suga. Even if Akaashi was to say so himself, it looked good like that — a harmony of colors and themes.

 

Finally, he was brave enough to shuffle over to the grade card and open it, Bokuto at his arm, ready to celebrate or comfort. His hands shook so much he wasn’t sure he could open the booklet, so Bokuto had to do it for him.

 

It was an A.

 

He could’ve cried.

 

He didn’t even register Bokuto yelling, or picking him up and spinning him around. 

 

He was too dazed to register anything at all for a good few minutes, clutching the grade card for dear life.

 

When he eventually came to, Bokuto still had an arm around his shoulders, and suddenly Oikawa and Kuroo were there too, outfitted in matching mischievous grins and button-ups. They congratulated him, and Akaashi thanked him as sincerely as he could — his head was still spinning.

 

‘Hey, Akaashi, can we go over there for a moment?’ Taking advantage of Kuroo’s distraction as Oikawa dragged him over to the exhibit to point out the photos he was in, Bokuto had leaned in to whisper in Akaashi’s ear.

 

‘Sure?’ Akaashi asked, frowning at him. ‘Why?’

 

‘’Cause Kuroo said it’d be weird if I ask you out in front of a collage of my face,’ Bokuto replied, as nonchalant as ever, while Akaashi’s heart skipped a beat.

 

‘ _ What _ ?’

 

‘What?’ Bokuto echoed. Then, as he seemed to realize his mistake, his cheeks bloomed in a most pleasing shade of red. ‘I was gonna ask you out, over there…’ he nodded to another display, all pretty golds and whites, and trailed off. He ran a hand through his hair, flustered, and Akaashi’s heart stuttered again. 

 

‘Yes.’ Akaashi blurted, not quite thinking, too impatient to wait for Bokuto to actually confess: he couldn’t believe it was happening, and felt that if he didn’t act fast enough, it’d slip away. 

 

Bokuto looked at him, eyes wide and innocent. ‘ _ Really _ ?’

 

‘ _ Yes _ , holy  _ shit  _ Bokuto.’ Akaashi couldn’t keep the swearing off his lips as he yanked on Bokuto’s collar and pulled him down for a kiss, which was enthusiastically returned. Akaashi didn’t fancy himself like the sappy type, but when he said it felt like everything slid into place, he meant it. He’d imagined what kissing Bokuto would be like, and with a little spark of satisfaction, he thought that he wasn’t far off. Bokuto was an enthusiastic kisser, and wrapped his arms around Akaashi  _ just _ like he’d imagined.

 

‘I’m gonna be twenty bucks richer,’ Kuroo sang.

 

‘Who the  _ hell _ bet against you? Against  _ this _ ?’ asked a disbelieving Oikawa, his voice incredulous, and Akaashi guessed he was gesturing at the two of them. He didn’t care.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you've enjoyed this.. thing that wouldn't leave me alone for 2 days straight! come chat to me on twitter @merrihael!


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